South African Update, with David Dickinson

Literary attention returned to South Africa when Damien Galgut won the Booker Prize in 2021 with The Promise, leading to a conversation about the novel with the former Nottingham resident David Dickinson, who has lived in South Africa, including in the townships, for many years. He has written about the AIDS crisis in South Africa and industrial relations post-apartheid. David is a professor of sociology at Wits University, in Johannesburg. He is involved in grassroots political organising among the poor majority, often against the African National Congress of which he was a member.

This event, resuming a tradition of occasional international discussions at the bookshop, will present an update of the current situation in South Africa, with plenty of time for questions. No previous knowledge of South Africa required.